Saturday’s Super Rugby final against the Crusaders in New Zealand will be the final match for a number of Lions players.
And they want to finish on the ultimate high – finally winning the decider in their third attempt in as many years.
With the likes of Franco Mostert and Jaco Kriel, among others, having already announced their departure from Ellis Park, flyhalf Elton Jantjies says Saturday’s final at 9.35am will be a special occasion.
Jantjies, who turned 28 yesterday, is also rumoured to be on his way out, but says: “Everything is about the team; some of my mates are leaving and I want to make it special for them too.”
With a place in the Springbok squad on the line – with coach Rassie Erasmus also taking a look at young Stormers flyhalf Damian Willemse – Jantjies says he just wants to serve his team on Saturday.
He explains: “I want to serve my team, make them look good.
“I want the players around me to enjoy themselves and hopefully I can help inspire them to do just that, to express themselves.
“I’ll worry about the other stuff, the decision-making; that’s my responsibility, and I’m happy to have it because I enjoy it.”
Having played, and lost, in back-to-back finals, Jantjies doesn’t believe the Lions will be under pressure as they gear up to face the defending champions.
He adds: “There’s no pressure on us... we’ve been in two finals already and you can’t get much better preparation than that.
“The past is in the past, we can’t change what happened; all we can do is focus on our jobs this weekend.
“Everything is pretty relaxed. We’re treating this game like we treat every other week during the year. Nothing is different, except we are the team doing travelling now.
Of their approach to the game, he ads: “We’re go into the match on the back of two good performances in the knockout rounds, but the Crusaders are a different team again.
“We’re going to be up against an All Blacks pack, so it’s going to be a good challenge for our forwards.
“But our pack has also been good this year. These are two exciting teams in the final, sides that love scoring tries, so we’re all looking forward to the match.”